“CEP 811 is designed to push students to extend their conceptions of innovation,” said Wolf, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education (CEPSE). “Focused on the integration of digital technologies in educational settings, the course immerses students in the world of making, doing and creating with new tools in new ways.”

Michelle Schira Hagerman

The course is one of six being honored at the university for effective practices in the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. The awards are funded by AT&T.

CEP 811 was created with, and still holds the ideals of, being the most “hands-on” online course students ever experience, implementing interactive, multisensory and innovative practices into the digital classroom. It has been offered since Spring 2002, but recently saw a facelift under the direction of Wolf and Hagerman. It was officially re-introduced in Summer 2013 as a seven-week course.

Students must examine what is innovative about each technology they use, how they may utilize it in their own classrooms and what it offers that students don’t already have in current practice. The course is open to all master’s students in the university. The course’s redesign doesn’t mean it’s done evolving: with a course title like “Adapting Innovative Technologies,” it will continue to shift along with technology.

“The single core idea that defines the course is that innovative uses of technology can happen with a range of tools, in a range of ways, in a range of contexts,” Wolf continued. “The course was recognized for the innovative ways the course challenges students to explore pedagogical ideas through the lens of Maker Education.”

Hagerman, academic specialist for CEPSE and director of graduate certificate programs in educational technology and online teaching and learning, joined Wolf as a course designer for CEP 811, along with eight instructors and two additional individuals who assisted with curriculum brainstorming.

Another professor from the college was also honored for one of her courses. Melanie Cooper, professor in the Department of Education, was selected as “Best Enhanced Course” for CEM 141: General Chemistry. Cooper holds a joint teaching appointment with the MSU College of Natural Science.

All courses were selected as winners by peer reviewers in the university; a full list of the 2015 winners can be found here.

For a list of professors in the College of Education who have also won AT&T Faculty-Staff Awards, click here.